Thursday, October 31, 2013

SoxSpeare: A Sonnet on the World Series Victory of the Red Sox in 2013

Jones, Keith. "A Sonnet on the World Series Victory of the Red Sox in 2013." 31 October 2013.
The wager was made (for which, q.v.).

And now it's time to pay up.

I am very sad that the Cardinals did not win the World Series this year, but I must genuinely and sincerely acknowledge the true majesty of the Red Sox. They played astonishingly well.

At the end of the regular season, both teams were at the top of their divisions, tied with each other for the best win / loss percentage in baseball: .599. They were well-matched, and the World Series was filled with thrilling plays.

To honor my bet with Shakespeare Geek, I have written a sonnet in praise of the Red Sox. Enjoy.

A Sonnet on the World Series Victory of the Red Sox in 2013

Wear red upon your feet with hoops of steel.
Eat beans and cod and things Bostonians like.
Beware the vast green monster in left field.
It mocks the very balls that do it strike.
The Cardinals cannot say you taunt or tease—
We cannot blame the outcome on a curse.
We fear the beard and batting of Ortiz.
Of two teams meeting, one must be the worse.
Two teams, alike in dignity, did meet;
The Red Sox are the better team this fall.
Impediments did not impede your feet:
Your fielding, hitting, running stunned us all.I must reply, to all repeated queries,“The mighty Red Sox won this year’s World Series.”

Note: This sonnet made its way into a news story by KSDK reporter Anne Allred about bets that St. Louisans have had to settle since the end of the World Series:

One week later, the NBC affiliate in St. Louis (KSD) did a feature on Cardinals fans paying off their wagers. Bardfilm's Sonnet to the Sox was heralded as "perhaps the most unusual" of the accounts settled. I'll say!

Bardfilmis normally written as one word, though it can also be found under a search for "Bard Film Blog." Bardfilmis a Shakespeare blog (admittedly, one of many Shakespeare blogs), and it is dedicated to commentary on films (Shakespeare movies, The Shakespeare Movie, Shakespeare on television, Shakespeare at the cinema), plays, and other matter related to Shakespeare (allusions to Shakespeare in pop culture, quotes from Shakespeare in popular culture, quotations that come from Shakespeare, et cetera).

Unless otherwise indicated, quotations from Shakespeare's works are from the following edition:

KJ is a professor of English and Literature at a small Christian liberal arts college. In addition to courses entitled “Shakespeare” and “Introduction to Shakespeare,” he teaches a course called “Shakespeare and Film.” Recently, he developed a course titled “Modern Shakespearean Fiction.” Shakespeare is also integrated into nearly all his other courses, including courses on the Literature of Food and the Literature of Humor. Additionally, he is the author of Bardfilm: The Shakespeare and Film Microblog. But you may have known that already.